I was the only person who commented on the most recent critique group post. That must mean that the group has lost interest. I am suspending this feature for the time being.
Categories: Critique Group
I was the only person who commented on the most recent critique group post. That must mean that the group has lost interest. I am suspending this feature for the time being.
Categories: Critique Group
Sad
Thank you for all the work you have put into this series on your blog! It has been helpful to see your writing instruction applied to actual works in progress.
Bummer! May I send you pieces to critique that are not necessarily for the critique group?
thank you!!
You may send them, but I can’t promise a timely critique.
Sorry. Its just been really busy for me, ya know with summer and stuff.
Do you have any idea if and when you will continue the critique group? I recently subscribed and am interested in seeing more.
No. I don’t have an idea when or if I will restart this feature.
Alright, thanks for the fast response!
Yeah, sorry. Moving across state lines, unpacking and starting school all blew out my free time. I’ve been mostly following you on Facebook as you work on Superhero Book #2. I look forward to this coming back sometime, and I imagine I’ll be more attentive then. Thanks for having this critique group over the years. It’s been helpful to me as a writer.
I am glad it was helpful. I’m not sure what would trigger restarting this feature. It’s not likely to return soon.
Dear Mr. Davis,
I had a few questions about the critique group. I know this feature has been suspended for the time being (and I hope it gets reinstated), but if/when it gets reinstated, I want to make sure I know how to use it properly.
1) Do you have to be a certain age to post something to be critiqued in this feature?
2) You said in the critiquing guidelines: “This critique group is not designed for beginning writers, that is, writers who are still learning basic concepts such as punctuation, grammar, and paragraph structure. Such writers are not ready to be critiqued in a public forum. This service is for writers who understand how narrative, dialogue, and interior monologue function.” Obviously this question will show my inexperience, but can you give a little more explanation about this? Maybe give a few more details and examples of each of these concepts so I can judge whether or not I am ready to post something.
3) Do you have to be a published or soon-to-be-published author in order to post something to be critiqued? I am not a published or soon-to-be-published author by any means since I am only in college and I just enjoy writing for fun, but the idea of getting suggestions and edits from those who have more experience, especially a published author of my all-time favorite books, is extremely appealing to me. Furthermore, I think it would help me grow as a writer, something I sincerely want to do.
4) As for things that you accept to be critiqued, do you accept fanfictions or stories based off of movies, tv series, franchises, etc (obviously with credit given to the creators of the movie, tv series, etc)?
I think those are all the questions I have for now, but I won’t hesitate to bring any other questions to you. Thank you for your time and attention. I also just want to say that I love that you created this blog because I am learning so much from your writing tips and the previous critique groups!
1. There is no age requirement.
2. Punctuation – There are many punctuation rules, so I don’t want to list them here. I’m sure you can find lots of websites about proper punctuation. You don’t have to be perfect at it, but you need to know basics like the fact that sentences end with a period instead of a comma, that dialogue needs to be within quotation marks, and others.
It helps to know basic dialogue punctuation rules:
Here is dialogue with a speaker tag.
“I know that,” Jim said. “I heard it on the radio.”
Pattern – “Dialogue,” speaker tag. “Dialogue.”
Dialogue beats without speaker tags have no comma:
“I know that.” Jim touched the car’s dashboard. “I heard it on the radio.”
Pattern – “Dialogue.” Dialogue beat. “Dialogue.”
Some who have submitted excerpts have not known these rules, but it helps a lot if you do.
Grammar – If you don’t know basic grammar, you are not ready to be a writer. You need to know subject and verb agreement and what time tenses are (past, present, future). You don’t need to be a master in grammar, but it helps to know as much as possible.
Paragraph structure – You need to know that every time a speaker changes, you must have a paragraph break. It also helps to break the paragraph when you switch from one person’s actions to another person’s actions.
Regarding narrative, dialogue, and interior monologue, you don’t have to be a master of those, but you need to know what they are. I have blog posts on each of these.
3. No. Novices with basic skills are welcome.
4. I do accept fan fiction.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Wow! Thank you for your quick response and your detailed answer. Those concepts make much more sense now and I will be sure to check out the blog posts on narrative, dialogue, and interior monologue for more information. I’m so excited to learn more and use them in my own stories. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for this feature in case it is reinstated. I think it’s kind of interesting that you mentioned adding a new paragraph each time a speaker changes because I didn’t used to do that, but I figured out that that was the proper way to do it and have been doing it ever since. One concept down, only a few more to go! 🙂
I am considering restarting the feature after the end of the year. We’ll see how it goes.
Okay, I’ll just keep an eye on it and read up on all of your writing tips/critique groups while I wait. 😀